Category / Melaka

On the way to Singapore for Oasis concert last Sunday (which was awesome!), we made a pit stop by the historical town that is Melaka to refuel our stomachs.

When it comes to Melaka, there are a few types of food unique to the town: chicken rice balls, satey celup, popiah with lard, and cendol with gula melaka. We planned to make the most of this very short stopover by stuffing ourselves with as much as possible.

there’s a perpetual queue in front of the restaurant

I have previously tried two other chicken rice ball places in Melaka (all within walking distance), Chung Wah was the first I went, and while tasty, the place rather warm and a little too busy. On the other hand, my experience at Famosa Chicken Rice Ball was just not really good enough for me to write an entry about the restaurant.

Among the 3 places, Hoe Kee has the best and most comfortable seating areas (some sections air conditioned). While we had to wait for some 10 minutes to get a table, food was served within 5 minutes, so the overall waiting time wasn’t long at all.

chicken rice balls, cabbage, asam fish

Since it was already 1pm and we haven’t even had breakfast, we basically ordered everything the server suggested. Chicken rice balls for 5 person, asam fish, vegetable, 4 coconuts, and extra 15 rice balls (RM 6).

The half a chicken (RM 16) we got was very smooth and the meat really tasty, there were also plenty of chicken gizzards and liver which provided a different flavor to the chicken that goes very well with the soft but firm rice balls. Poor man’s pate, anyone?

The Asam Fish (RM 30) came quite a bit later, which proved to be a nice timing since the very strong tasting curry wouldn’t work well with the milder flavored chicken if you have them in that order. The hardcore sourness and spicy nature of the dish might not suit everyone, but I really liked it.

Hoe Kee Chicken Rice is located at Jonker Street (Jalan Hang Jebat)

We ate so fast and so much that there wasn’t any stomach space left except for a bowl of cendol at Jonker88. It was dilemma looking at the popiah stall while being absolutely full, but alas, we made the decision not to have the possibility to puke in the car on the way to Singapore.

Lunch came to RM 77.20 in total, including the 4 coconuts (RM 16). That works out to be around RM 15.50 per person, pretty decent price for a very satisfying lunch at a comfortable environment.

Chung Wah restaurant (中华茶室) is one of the very first, and regarded by many, the best chicken rice ball restaurant in Melaka. It is also perhaps the most accessible one, with a paid car park just right beside the building, across from the St. Paul’s church (another must visit place in Melaka).

The place is always packed during weekends, and almost impossible to get in during festive seasons. After fighting through a small crowd to get our table, we ordered a middle portion chicken meat with 2 plates of chicken rice balls (5 balls per plate)

chicken, rice balls, and chili, we’re all set

The chicken came with only one style, white chicken, since this is a pure Hainanese restaurant, no roasted or BBQ variety. The meat was smooth and tasted rather good, with sufficient flavor in all departments. The chili that is so important to any chicken rice dish was actually very good, has a kick in it while retaining a savory pepper aroma, addictive. The main attraction, the rice balls themselves, were somehow rather cold, but otherwise tasted pretty good. It is like having Bak Chang made of chicken rice, an interesting experience if you haven’t tried it.

Chung Wah restaurant is right at the end/beginning of Jonker Walk

The meal for two was about RM 13-14, RM 8 for the chicken, and RM 1.50 for a plate of 5 rice balls.

This is the very first KY tv post, my very own fake plan food review “TV” show!

Now this is not the first time I wrote about Satay Celup at this particular place in Melaka. The previous entry on Ban Lee Siang Satay Celup includes the review in text, as well as pictures, contact number, address, and map. Then again, nothing beats the video, especially with hot chick (who is also my camera girl and chief editor) in it too.

It was 5pm and we were the very first customer in the restaurant. Trust me, by sunset the place will be busier than a beehive.

Sort of like the laksa of Penang, anyone who goes to Melaka should not miss the uniquely Melaka delicacy, the satay celup (celup: dip). It is basically a type of steamboat on with the raw food on the stick to be cooked in a boiling spicy peanut sauce that is similar to those that comes with normal satay. Other than the different medium for cooking the raw food on stick, it is identical to the more recognizable lok lok.

this stuff are absolutely mouth watering

For supper during our Melaka trip, we headed to Ban Lee Siang to fill our stomach with this uniquely Melaccan food. Now some of you may suggest that Capitol Satay Celup is the “better” place to go. In a way, while Capitol is one of the “original” and oldest place serving satay celup, there are simply way over-crowded (with people standing right next to your table waiting for you to get done) for anyone to enjoy a peaceful meal there without rushing. My baba friends from Melaka hence suggested this place, which is just as good.

only 50 sen per stick, pay what you eat

The place was quite packed as well, we managed to get 2 tables right next to each other to fit all 10 of us. We then head straight to the line to get our stuff. At this place, everything is priced at RM 0.50 per stick, no matter if it is prawn, vegetable, fish ball, quail’s egg, cockles, anything. You only pay for what you eat. You can also order some bread too.

Serving is simple, you just put the stick of raw food in the boiling satay sauce/soup, let it cook, and then put it to your mouth. The stuff packs a punch though, in terms of hotness, I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone who can’t have spicy food. But if you like spicy food and enjoys lok lok, this is an awesome combination.

the map of Ban Lee Siang satay celup at Jalan Ong Kim Wee

After crowning herself with 38 sticks of satay in the afternoon, Kim got the better of us again and devoured almost 30 sticks of satay celup. I only had 2/3 of what she managed, respect.

The first thing we fill our stomach with when arriving dead starved (thanks to PLUS highway who decided to repave the road during Saturday rush hour) at Melaka was the pork satay. Situated opposite to the Pay Teck school on Jalan Portugis, the shop is actually just a few blocks away from the famous Jonker Walk.

ooO glorious food

Satay is traditionally a Malay dish, and most of the time prepared by Muslim, hence, with Halal meat, ie: no pork. However, in this historic town of Melaka where you can get fried pork fat in Poh Piah, it is just fitting that pork satay is served too (by non-Muslim of course)

the shop and the satisfied customers

The thing about this Xiang Ji satay shop is that you don’t really have to place any order. After you sit down, they will start to serve you satay soon as they are done from the barbecue pit. We had plenty of pork satay, liver satay and chicken satay, sadly, they ran out of my favorite: the pork intestine satay.

satay with the ketupad, peanut sauce, raw cucumber and onion

The portion of a single satay is not very big here, probably about half the size of those huge Ampang satay, but the taste is different. The pork goes well with their marinate tastes of turmeric and some other sauces that I obviously don’t know (probably their trade secret). The liver though, can be a little dry, but still pretty good. The chicken satay did not disappoint either.

but ARGH, why no intestine!!?! Looks like I’ll have to go there again.

After the satay, we went to Jonker Walk and to have some snack, other than the Poh Piah on previous post, we had the must-eat Chendol and also some very good otak-otak sold on a stall nearby the unmistakable Jonker88 restaurant.

The Chendol in Melaka is poured with the thick and original Gula Melaka (palm sugar) which made all the difference. The rich and sweet caramel taste of palm sugar on top of the finely shaved ice was just absolutely delightful.